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Messages - Mitsukara

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226
Indeed, I'm not really too keen on the idea of using an X-acto knife for such a thing, and am pretty scared of hurting myself on one. I kinda wish there were some kind of chain gloves I could wear or something when handling one!

I might attempt it, but I'm not going to jump up and do it tonight, to be certain.

As for $27... I might be able to muster that in a couple months, but I don't think I can do it right now. However, if you happen to know some other brand names and/or terms I could use to specify what kind of "rotary" I mean, that might helpful in seeing if I can find one to borrow...

Another tactic I considered, though it has me spending a good bit more for parts, is to combining some kind of peg-compatable torso with some kind of decent arms and I could at least steal a Pilot Obi Wan's legs, given their old standard hip joints. I've looked around at various figures but I'm not really sure what would work best- anyone have some ideas on that subject?

227
Wow! Thanks, I wasn't even sure a head could be modified to fit on a ball, much less that there were already a few people with experience doing just that.

I need to see if any nearby relatives have a dremel and are willing to loan it- I really doubt I'll be able to buy one for the next several months at the least.

Are there perhaps some alternate methods I could use, like some way to make the hole for the neck post using an x-acto knife (perhaps I could hold the head with some tongs or something for safety if I were to do such a thing...), or maybe some alternate way to insert the entire neck post as I mentiond in my first post? I don't know if an x-acto knife can cut styrene, even it's heated... hmm. I've toyed with the idea of maybe molding a high collar to hold in the neck post, like Luke's ROTJ collar or better yet those "turtlenecks" Obi Wan and Anakin wore in the original trilogy; don't know how well that would work.

In any case, I'll need to find some junk figures for testing a method/methods when I decide on one, I suppose. Hmm...

228
Okay, I posted about this on FFURG a couple weeks ago, but I figured I might try asking here too to see if anyone had some advice.

Long story short, I'm wanting to take a ROTS (or better yet, I want to get my hands on a TSC Battle of Coruscant version for the cloak <3) "Pilot Gear"/Red Leader Obi Wan, remove his head, and replace it with an EU Dark Jedi Luke head. I would prefer to avoid the route of chopping off Obi Wan's neck Luke's neck post and then glueing the Luke head on in one position; so, I'm toying with the concept of cutting out part of Obi Wan's head and neck, probably including the "bottom layer" of his robes (just the darkest brown collar really), inserting my Luke head, and molding a new collar piece to hold the head in place. But that sounds pretty darn iffy and like a good way to destroy an awesome figure if I screw up.

So, does anyone have some advice on how to go about this? This might be a good time to point out that my customizing experience is pretty limited so far.

I could skip this route altogether and use a different Jedi body for Luke, but I really want him to look good and have quite a bit of articulation. Super-articulated would be perfect. The idea of using a ROTS Dooku and then molding (or maybe even glueing on some properly measured, appropriately chosen fabric to do some basic soft goods?) new robe parts on crosses my mind. Basically, my goal is to use my Dark Jedi Luke head on a highly articulated body for post-ROTJ (more likely post Thrawn Trilogy really) Jedi Master Luke. If all else fails I could use one of those "Naboo" robed episode 1 Obi Wans as they look fairly good, but the articulation would be kinda lame.

Also, while I could possibly get my hands on one from a family member (buying one isn't likely to happen any time too soon), I do not have a dremel tool at my disposal at this time. I do however have an X-acto knife.

229
Toy Reviews / Repack Review #1: TSC Battle of Hoth Wave - R2-D2
« on: March 21, 2006, 09:28 PM »

Jedi Defender Image Database - TSC 010 R2D2

Sorry if I seem overly impressed with this R2, considering he is essentially a slightly modified reprint (with some features removed even), but I'm sad to admit the only R2 I actually owned before this was the POTF2 Orange version! I drooled over reviews of the VOTC one when I saw it, so I'm pretty happy Hasbro has decided to reuse the sculpt.

That said, I'll try to consider the VOTC version vs. this version in my review.

Sculpt: 5/5
Just like the VOTC, this R2 has near-perfect proportions; he's stubby, his dome is appropriately large, and the legs stick out about the right amount. He's nicly detailed, with nicely defined edges on all his panels and vents and such. The wheels on the feet come highly appreciated after years of owning a POTF2 figure, as they allow R2 to roll around on tables and such. The only downside to this is that when the third leg is removed, R2 has a little trouble standing properly without some work. The hole that remains when you remove the third leg looks okay, and it's large enough to approach movie accuracy on a certain level. I also love the seperate cords/hoses on his "feet"; they're very realistic and movie-accurate, far better than the ambiguous pair of straight lines seen on countless previous R2s.

This R2 sports a couple inaccuracies to the film in the form of these little lines at the top of his left leg, and I believe there were a few details missing somewhere on the legs as well, but I don't really mind these and never noticed anything wrong with them until I'd read it elsewhere and compared. This might irritate the avid R2 or astromech fan, but otherwise he looks pretty darn good. Another slight gaff is that this version of R2 (it's an error not present on the VOTC as far as I can tell) has an imperfectly met seam on his third leg, which means that on close inspection one half of the foot is lower than the other. Despite all this, though, I think he's the best-sculpted R2 Hasbro has produced, with only slight room for improvement.

Paint: 4.5/5
The paint is very well-applied for the most part on my figure; the only application gripes I could find were a sloppy panel on the dome, a slight tendancy for the same blue paint to chip off if you aren't careful handling it, and a few missing details (the only ones I could really find in a brief photo comparison were a few spots around the "ankles"). The colors, however, are excellent, and I for one love the vacuum-metallized dome. I don't think R2's dome was usually quite this shiny, but it's very cool and realistic-looking, so I really find it hard to get too objective about it. R2's second, red eye is a pretty good color although it doesn't really look very bright (I believe that part had a light in the movie); the two little things to the lower left of the main eye are also very nicely painted, giving decent resemblance to what was seen in the movie (there were underdiscernable lighted moving patterns of some kind, I think).

The grime and dirt, the new feature on this R2 as opposed to the VOTC, is pretty good looking; it's noticeable but not overbearingly so. It works for the kind of grime R2 might've picked up on Hoth, but then again, he could also be strolling around Endor or Wayland, and he'd even be passable on Tatooine. He looks great for pretty much any occasion except, say, stuff like the Yavin IV ceremony (where he was sparkly clean). One thing I noticed, though, was that on the back, the grime looked sort of streaked/smeared on; I'm not sure how common this is, and it doesn't really look too bad, but on close inspection it looks like something licked R2 or something.

Articulation: 4.5/5
R2 still sports great articulation: rotating head, legs, and two ankles. His removeable third leg has no articulation. I know some other R2s featured an ankle joint on the third leg as well, but this setup works well enough to suit most purposes. The one objection is that R2's sensorscope raises when you turn the head; this makes it a little odd when you want to turn his head very far. You can turn it a little bit to one side or the other and still keep it down, but it's a little bit limiting.

Features: 3.5/5
This R2 isn't quite as nifty as VOTC R2 was, with his detachable arms and swappable panel; instead Hasbro opted to glue the closed door in place (it's pretty easy to find the edges where it's a seperate piece, but it's not really obnoxious-looking) and instead packed some other accessories. Remaining from VOTC R2 is the sensorscope, which is kind of cool but as I said can be restricting on the dome articulation, and the good ol' light-pipe eyeport (the center panel and his main eye are molded in clear plastic that catches light from above and makes the eye light up at certain angles). This feature is fun to play with, but not 100% movie accurate; again, I don't really mind and it doesn't really detract from the figure's look much as it's usually dark and the top panel doesn't look that different from the others on the dome.

As a suggestion, though, I'd really love to see an R2 where they did something with the second eye- maybe some reflective/irodescent paint, or if he were another electronic figure, an actual light there? It's kind of out in left field and nothing that really needs addressed, and he looks just fine without it, so I'm not complaining; just an idea.

Accessories: 4/5
Even though R2's card pictures and describes (in line with the sensorscope), and the wave is generally themed on Hoth/the Battle of Hoth, R2-D2 is packed with accessories from much later in the movie on Dagobah. I'm not complaining though, as these are cool little things and I don't own the X-Wing they were originally packaged with. What you get is a crate, a lantern, and Luke's tray of... well, they always looked like Fish Sticks to me. The tray and crate have removeable lids, which is nice detail for such. All of these are molded in gray plastic, and the lantern has some nicely applied bright yellow paint to make it look lighted. Luke's food, unfortunately, is the same color as the metal tray it comes on. Yum. My one complaint, though, is that while both of the other accessories mostly fit in the crate, the lid can't be closed on either of them! I know this stuff was spread out in the movie, but it would've been nice if the crate actually had a real function since it opens.

These accesories are nice, but I'd have preferred to see the VOTC accesories reprinted instead of a glued-on door and this stuff. Alas.

R2 also comes with the standard Saga Collection stuff; a gray stand molded with the Empire Strikes Back movie logo and the figure's name written on it, plus one of those random hologram figures. Unlike the other main character figures I've seen (Carbonite Han, Boussh's Bounty Chewie, etc.), this stand just sports the name "R2-D2" with no extension; not sure if that means Hasbro only plans to release one or just couldn't come up with more of a name, but at the moment it's actually kind of a good thing as it makes the stand versatile, and you could put any other R2 on it if you wished. However, there is one oddity to this stand; they just reprinted the same ESB stand mold included with other figures, meaning it has a peg. But wait! R2 has flat feet with wheels, not peg holes! Oops.

There's not much to say about the hologram figure as it's random to each figure; mine came with a Han Solo, which is unfortunate since the Boussh Leia I bought had a Han as well. This was also the only R2 available on the pegs of my store at the time (actually, it's the only one I've seen, but this is a Wal Mart in a small city we're talking about). Perhaps I'll give one of my Hans away, or paint one of them? These "little hologram dudes" aren't that impressive to me overall, though; the details are okay but they're still just little clear blue plastic guys that might or might not look cool on some level, and it seems like kind of a mediocre gimmick to me. Given a choice I'd rather the plastic/money be used on more accessories/sculpted parts, personally, but that's just my opinion.

Packaging: 5/5
The Saga Collection has some awesome packaging, combining an OTC-ish look (with the border and Star Wars logo resembling vintage packaging) with a nice big bubble and a little insert with a photo of the charachter and their name, much like the ROTS style. Combined with a rather large background picture designed to make it look like the figure is in that scene, this is some of the coolest packaging I've seen, and I really like it. The only parts I can really complain about are some occasionally poor-looking photos of the figures on the back, and the semi-cheesy description, but these are easily brushed aside.

In R2's case, they've taken a photo and doctored it, removing R2 from the picture and centering the figure where R2 would've been. This looks pretty good, with C3PO standing next to him looking down at him.

Overall: 4.5/5
This is an awesome R2-D2 figure, in my book the second-best I know of. If you didn't get the VOTC you should try to get ahold of one of these, especially since he's $3-$4 down from the VOTC's original price and a larger number less for trying to find one on eBay now. If you do own a VOTC R2, this makes a good second for display and the grime allows him to fit in better for certain scenes.

Now, to get my hands on a ROTS (or maybe the new Saga Collection version) C3PO...

(Edited to fix a couple grammatical/spelling errors and to change a couple words for clarity)

230
Collector's Tips / Re: Cheapest/best way(s) to buy old figures?
« on: March 21, 2006, 12:03 PM »
Okay, thank you ^^ To be honest, I'm not sure I completely understand how to use the classifieds/how the process works. Can you just post in the appropriate forum that you want so and so figure(s) under so and so price in so and so condition(s), and then someone might reply if they're willing to sell one meeting those parameters? Also, how is shipping/handling accounted for?

I also noticed that people seem to bump their own want lists when they don't get replies and fall too low (probably back a page, I'd think) on the threads list; is that frowned on at all, or limited to a certain amount of times you're allowed to do it or something?

Right at the moment I unfortunately don't have a whole lot of money I can (practically, that is) spend on figures, so most purchasing will probably have to wait a few weeks unless I find something great. While I am keeping an eye out for the other figures I want, my main focus in online buying at the moment is trying to find an affordable Mara Jade... that, and I'm saving some money back in case I can find the VTSCs in stores, of course. (I was totally surprised when I found out they were even making them, actually; Endor Han looks even cooler than the first VOTC Han, and a SA Scout Trooper and X-Wing Luke...!)

231
Collector's Tips / Re: Cheapest/best way(s) to buy old figures?
« on: March 17, 2006, 12:03 AM »
Oops- perhaps I shouldn't have listed Han there. Truth be told, I've spent a lot more time looking for VOTC Chewbaccas and Stormtroopers, and it seems there are at the moment a few Hans going for more like $15. I'll likely be buying one of those soon, then >.< And I'll try to watch what I say a bit more, as well.

Thank you very much, though! I very much appreciate your advice and will try to follow it. The thought of looking for Evolutions Anakin on an online retailer hadn't even occured to me; I need to look into that.

I've watched a number of Mara Jade auctions in the last few weeks and all of them topped $20; at the moment I've got my eye on a loose one ending tommorrow with no bids at $13, though I have my doubts, it might work out well.

Thanks!

232
Collector's Tips / Cheapest/best way(s) to buy old figures?
« on: March 12, 2006, 10:01 PM »
Living in a smallish city with no place to buy figures 90% of the time besides one Wal Mart or the internet, combined with "jumping on the wagon" a bit late, I've missed many, many figure lines. So I find myself buying a lot of used figures that I want on eBay in the last few months, and that's worked out pretty good... for the most part.

However, there are a few pieces that have gotten rarer, and I can't seem to find for humanly affordable prices on eBay. Increasing this problem is that nearly all of these auctions only sell these rarer figures MOC, which is nice but I really don't need, preferring loose figures.

Eventually I might cough up enough money to actually buy these things (though I feel a bit guilty spending $20 on one figure in any situation), so I'd really like to explore some other options for buying these figures. I would like to find the least expensive way available for getting ahold of these figures, so any tips would be greatly appreciated!

This isn't a "wants" trading list post or anything (yet, at least), just some examples of the figures I'm wanting and having trouble finding under $20 (or in the evolutions' case, $30) on eBay:

Mara Jade (POTF EU)
Han Solo (VOTC)
Chewbacca (VOTC)
Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader Evolutions

I'm having a less extreme version of the problem with finding a few other things, such as the Saga/OTC Jedi Luke.

I'm sorry if this thread is out of place or full of noob-ish annoyance >.< I know it's quite likely I won't find these figures below $20 anywhere, so I'll understand if that's the case. Thank you for reading and any assistance/advice offered.

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